Fast Had Taught at Hampshire College for Three Years; Some of Her Colleagues Had Been There for Thirty

U.S. universities are facing an unprecedented crisis, with a wave of closures driven by soaring costs, mounting debt, and a decline in student enrollment, compounded by political distrust fueled by former President Donald Trump's rhetoric. In 2025, around fifteen higher education institutions shut their doors, following roughly forty closures in 2024. Beyond cuts in subsidies, the academic world is grappling with a drop in student numbers, as many young people question the value of the skills being taught. On the morning of April 14, Jina Fast, a philosophy professor at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, received a shocking message: "The board of trustees has voted for the definitive closure of Hampshire College in the fall of 2026. The decision was justified by significant debt and declining student numbers.

"We knew it was possible, but we thought we would have at least eighteen months to turn things around. It was very brutal, she said. In an academic world where teacher recruitment is organized more than a year in advance, professors had just a few weeks to find another job, all without an unemployment insurance system.

Fast had taught at Hampshire College for three years; some of her colleagues had been there for thirty. Transfer options to other universities were offered to students, even though nothing was automatic. The students were shocked; this campus was like a family, the philosophy professor added.

Founded in 1965, Hampshire College embodied a certain ideal: that of the New England liberal arts college, a very American four-year model emphasizing critical thinking, projects, transdisciplinary research, and small-group work. With annual tuition approaching $70,000 (about €60,000) — although in practice few students paid that rate due to scholarships and various discounts — and funding depending almost exclusively on families, the decline in enrollment proved fatal.